The Master of Drums: Gene Krupa and the Music He Gave the World

"A substantial and engaging biography that contributes significantly to the history of jazz in the United States." --Library Journal

The first definitive biography of Gene Krupa, the most famous drummer on the planet, whose feverish rhythms defined the Swing Era, changed jazz music forever, spurred rock and roll, and influenced generations.

From the early 1930s onward, Gene Krupa was a drum-centric rarity in the jazz world. Never before had a drummer been in the forefront as a solo artist. His galvanizing, unrestrained passion for percussion demanded it. Rocking the rafters, Gene thrilled audiences in ballrooms, nightclubs, and movies. He always knew he would. It was in his blood.

Seemingly born jazz-drum crazy in 1909 to a Polish-immigrant working-class family in South Chicago, Gene was a professional by the age of thirteen and soon made his first recordings. By the early 1930s, he was New York City's most in-demand drummer, and starting in 1934, he joined brilliant clarinetist Benny Goodman's band, helped inaugurate the Swing Era, and played the first-ever swing concert at Carnegie Hall, which made history. So did Gene, whose celebrity spread with every ride cymbal beat and bass drum bomb drop. He formed his own band, hired such dazzlingly outsized personalities as singer Anita O'Day, and unconditionally shattered racial boundaries by sharing the spotlight with the blistering African-American trumpeter Roy Eldridge. But after a skyrocketing ride to the top, Gene experienced a roller-coaster ride of good and bad luck, emotional highs, and devastating depths.

In The Master of Drums, biographer Elizabeth J. Rosenthal crafts a celebratory, honest, and exhaustively researched portrait of a twentieth-century music legend whose acolytes would include such rock-era artists as Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, John Bonham, and Apollo 440. When he died, Gene Krupa may have left behind a world of grieving friends, colleagues, fans, students, and progeny, but as The Master of Drums proves, his dynamic musical and cultural influences live on.

Foreword by Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats

Includes 16 pages of exclusive, never-before-seen photographs

Author: Elizabeth J. Rosenthal
Publisher: Citadel Press
Published: 04/29/2025
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780806543260


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 04/01/2025 pg. 98
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2025

About the Author
Elizabeth J. Rosenthal earned degrees in journalism at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications ('82) and law at Rutgers University ('85), and served as legal liaison with the New Jersey Civil Service Commission for 28 years before retiring in 2015. She has always been an enthusiast of 20th-century popular culture and history. Her previous books are His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John and Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson. Please visit her website, ElizabethJRosenthal.com, for more information.